Friday, February 12, 2016

NASL Map Update: 2016 Land Rush

#NASLMap @ Bloody_ShamblesFirst off, I would like to thank the @Bloody_Shambles guys for allowing me to participate in their blog. I have been collecting all NASL team related twitter data since August of 2014. I take all that data and try to analyze it different ways to compare teams to one another. I've posted a lot of interesting, semi-interesting, or downright useless visuals based off this data on @soccerbits since then. Twitter Analytics tells me that the #NASLMap has been the most interesting to people. How it worksI get asked by a lot by people how exactly it works, if I work for the FBI/NSA, or I just make all this stuff up. Legally, I cannot confirm of deny any of those statements. What it comes down to is every team has a set of unique criteria they go by. It could be a hashtag, team name, or team twitter handle. People like to tweet about teams they like (or hate). When you tweet about a team, your twitter client gives you the option of adding a geo-location to the tweet. This could be a precise location of where you are standing or it could be a tagged location similar to how Foursquare works. As it pertains to the #NASLMap, I take every tweet that have a geo-location set and analyze them. I have a Python programmed based system that then sorts them out among their related teams. Once that is done, it then goes through every single tweet and pinpoints there exact location using a point-in-path algorithm.

That is a fancy way of just saying it 'tells what state the tweet was from'. At that point it just becomes a points game. Tweets equal points and the more points a team gets in a state will determine if they "own" that state on the #NASLMap. Admittedly I am an Indy Eleven supporter, but when it comes to the #NASLMap I take care in making everything equal. #NASLmap is in the cloud. Technically it runs on an Amazon AWS server. The software it takes to run it is all based on open-source software. The programming I've all done myself to collect and analyze the tweets. Also, trying to cheat the system will get you banned from being able to contribute. There are a few Railhawks fans that have broken this rule intentionally.Now lets get down to business.....Scorpions and Silverbacks Land Rush of 2016When you leave the NASL you are no longer allowed to play on the #NASLMap. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. This is also a fun point in time for me because these teams leave a void that gets to be filled by the previous 2nd place teams for their states. This is going to shake things up a bit. Once MN United leaves its going to shake things up a lot due to them owning a lot of areas.TEXAS: NY COSMOSTexas gets a lot of NASL activity, but as of right now its firmly under NY Cosmos control.GEORGIA: INDY ELEVENThis was a close one. The Silverbacks already barely had a hold on their home state, but now its officially Indy Eleven territory. However, Armada is right on their heels. It will be interesting to see if Indy can hold onto it for the entire season.ALABAMA: INDY ELEVENIndy Eleven is again the winner of the Silverbacks loss here. Strikers are on their heels in 2nd. Generally though, soccer just isn't all that popular in Alabama for some reason. MLS and NASL both have a low volume of tweets sourcing from Alabama. (Future Owners Read As: Don't try to start a team here). New Teams: Miami FC, Puerto Rico FC, and Rayo OKCThe three new teams are also being considered for the #NASLMap. If you're a fan of any of these teams, start tweeting to get them on the #NASLMap! They won't be claiming any territory just yet due to being so new, but progress is being made. For example, Miami FC has been mentioned in 16 states from California to New York.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------